Ireland U-20s Rack Up Half Century Of Points Against Italy

The Ireland Under-20 Men’s team (sponsored by PwC) scored over 50 points for only the third time in World Rugby U-20 Championship history, as they started the 2024 edition with a dominant win over Italy in Cape Town.

2024 WORLD RUGBY UNDER-20 MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP POOL B:

Saturday, June 29 –

IRELAND UNDER-20s 55 ITALY UNDER-20s 15, DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Danny Sheahan, Luke Murphy, Evan O’Connell, Sam Berman 3, Finn Treacy, Sean Naughton; Cons: Jack Murphy 3, Sean Naughton 3; Pen: Sean Naughton
Italy: Tries: Lorenzo Elettri, Luca Bellucci; Cons: Martino Pucciariello; Pen: Martino Pucciariello
HT: Ireland 31 Italy 10

In Willie Faloon’s first match as head coach, the Ireland U-20s impressively outscored Italy by eight tries to two, with returning centre Sam Berman helping himself to a 20-minute hat-trick either side of half-time.

Danny Sheahan and Lorenzo Elettri swapped early scores, but turning in a much-improved performance compared to February’s tense 23-22 Six Nations victory over Italy, Ireland pushed on to lead 31-10 at the break.

Luke Murphy, captain Evan O’Connell, and Berman made sure the bonus point was secured by 27th minute, and even second half yellow cards for Sean Edobgo and Jacob Boyd failed to derail Faloon’s well-drilled side.

Luca Bellucci crossed during Edogbo’s absence, bringing the deficit down to 16 points, yet centres Berman and Finn Treacy responded by the hour mark. Replacement out-half Sean Naughton also touched down, finishing with a tidy 14-point personal tally.

A total of 19 players made their World Rugby U-20 Championship debuts for Ireland, while UL Bohemian scrum half Jake O’Riordan came on to win his first cap. As a late withdrawal from the back row, Galway Corinthians’ Max Flynn missed out on his debut.

The result marked Ireland’s biggest win over Italy at this level since the 2010 U-20 Six Nations (39-0), and their highest score against the Azzurrini since winning 47-15 in the Six Nations nine years ago.

It is the highest score and biggest winning margin in the five World Rugby U-20 Championship meetings between Ireland and Italy, eclipsing the 41-12 triumph from the 2012 tournament.

Ireland previously scored over a half century of points in U-20 Championship matches against Scotland (53-23, 2010), and Samoa (52-26, 2017). Their biggest ever U-20 Championship win was a 45-0 success against Uruguay back in 2009.

The recent U-20 Six Nations runners-up are top of Pool B after the opening day, level on five points with Australia who beat Georgia 35-11 despite lock Harvey Cordukes’ first half dismissal (he was replaced after 20 minutes under the tournament’s red card trial).

O’Connell and his team-mates will have a short turnaround before facing Georgia in Stellenbosch next Thursday (kick-off 1pm Irish time – live on RugbyPass TV), before wrapping up the pool stages against Australia at Cape Town’s Athlone Sports Stadium on Tuesday, July 9.

Cork duo Ben O’Connor and Sheahan were prominent during the early exchanges with Italy, the former claiming a textbook high catch and the latter, although halted at an initial maul, popping up a couple of phases later to power over for a third-minute try.

Ireland flooded back to the left after some solid Italian defence, with Berman’s basketball-style pass releasing Hugo McLaughlin to gobble up the ground and feed Sheahan to storm over in the left corner. Jack Murphy missed the difficult conversion.

However, the Irish lead lasted barely three minutes. A Davy Colbert knock-on led to Jack Murphy conceding a close-in lineout. Armed with a penalty advantage, Italy swept the ball wide for winger Elettri to score, with Martino Pucciariello converting for a 7-5 lead.

The son of former Munster prop Federico Pucciariello added a 10th-minute penalty, but it could have been worse for Ireland. Luke Murphy made a crucial interception to thwart a pacy Italian breakout, although his subsequent kick led to the offside decision.

A powerpacked carry from Bryn Ward earned the crowd’s appreciation, and Ireland maintained their territorial foothold thanks to a penalty won by Berman. Italy leaked further penalties for offside before number 8 Murphy crashed over with Boyd on the latch.

Jack Murphy opened with his account with a pinpoint conversion from the left, and Faloon’s charges remained on the front foot nearing the midpoint of the first half. Edogbo was carrying well in the wide channels, as was Berman in midfield.

Despite Sheahan being tackled into touch off a lineout, the resulting Italian set-piece produced loose ball. An alert O’Connell scooped it up to grab try number three with 18 minutes gone. Murphy expertly added the extras from the right for a 19-10 advantage.

Both Italian half-backs probed successfully with the boot, only for Oliver Coffey to find a brilliant touch with a booming box-kick. Sheahan snapped up the lineout ball at the rear, and Edogbo pinched another throw just a few minutes later.

With his centre partner Treacy also growing in influence, Berman cut back against the grain to break a tackle from Sergio Pellicioli and bag the bonus point, which Murphy followed up with another accurate conversion.

The Azzurrini were unable to build from a scrum penalty, and Berman closed out the first half’s scoring with a peach of a score. The outside backs combined neatly on the left before the Terenure College clubman, the target for Alan Spicer’s pullback pass, surged over in clinical fashion from 30 metres out.

Edogbo’s high tackle on his opposite number Cesare Zucconi saw Ireland go down to 14 men barely a minute after the restart. The pressure exerted by the Italian pack resulted in a pick-and-go effort from flanker Bellucci which went unconverted.

The TMO bunker review saw Edogbo’s card remain a yellow, and a further positive for Ireland was the sight of Berman muscling in under the posts in the 47th minute. He capitalised on another inviting pass from Coffey to make it 38-15.

It was a double whammy for Italy who lost Bellucci to the bin for a prior maul infringement. With Naughton now on for Jack Murphy at out-half, Coffey continued to fizz the ball around and create openings, the latest one seeing McLaughlin have a cut on the left wing.

Edogbo returned to the pitch with Hugh Gavin and James McKillop in tow, and Luke Murphy’s short pass soon put O’Connell striding up into the Italian 22. Quick hands from the backs, including the final pass from Colbert, released Treacy for the right corner.

Naughton notched the tough conversion for good measure, with the aid of the far post. Thirty points to the good, Naughton got back to foil a threatening break from Simone Brisighella, albeit that prop Boyd picked up his yellow for being caught offside.

An ankle tap from Patrick de Villiers denied Treacy his second try, with replacement Gavin’s brisk break slicing open the defence. There was no stopping Naughton in the 65th minute, as he stepped inside Lorenzo Casilio to score from McLaughlin’s deft offload off the ground.

There was some slick interplay before that, with newcomer O’Riordan at the heart of it and fellow replacement Stephen Smyth getting a chance to stretch his legs out wide. Naughton also split the posts to take Ireland through the half century mark.

Italy pressed for a consolation score, but Marco Scalabrin, their two-try hero from this year’s Six Nations encounter in Cork, was well covered by Treacy and Colbert. In addition, Smyth got in under Francesco Gentile to deny him a close-range try.

Smyth and Andrew Sparrow then combined to win a key turnover penalty near the Irish line, preventing Gentile from barging over with seven minutes remaining.

Italian full-back Mirko Belloni got the defensive plaudits for dislodging the ball as Smyth attempted to finish off a lung-busting team move which saw McKillop take off and time his pass well. A nicely-judged 50:22 kick from McLaughlin kept Italy pinned back, though.

With O’Connell called ashore to get a facial injury tended to, hooker Smyth was his direct replacement. That meant McKillop switched to lock and Sheahan packed down at flanker for the remaining scrums, the last of which saw Ireland force a penalty which Naughton turned into three points.

TIME LINE: 3 minutes – Ireland try: Danny Sheahan – 5-0; conversion: missed by Jack Murphy – 5-0; 6 mins – Italy try: Lorenzo Elettri – 5-5; conversion: Martino Pucciariello – 5-7; 10 mins – Italy penalty: Martino Pucciariello – 5-10; 13 mins – Ireland try: Luke Murphy – 10-10; conversion: Jack Murphy – 12-10; 18 mins – Ireland try: Evan O’Connell – 17-10; conversion: Jack Murphy – 19-10; 27 mins – Ireland try: Sam Berman – 24-10; conversion: Jack Murphy – 26-10; 37 mins – Ireland try: Sam Berman – 31-10; conversion: missed by Jack Murphy – 31-10; Half-time – Ireland 31 Italy 10; 41 mins – Ireland yellow card: Sean Edogbo; 43 mins – Italy try: Luca Bellucci – 31-15; conversion: missed by Martino Pucciariello – 31-15; 47 mins – Ireland try: Sam Berman – 36-15; conversion: Sean Naughton – 38-15; 47 mins – Italy yellow card: Lucca Bellucci; 55 mins – Ireland try: Finn Treacy – 43-15; conversion: Sean Naughton – 45-15; 58 mins – Ireland yellow card: Jacob Boyd; 65 mins – Ireland try: Sean Naughton – 50-15; conversion: Sean Naughton – 52-15; 80+2 mins – Ireland penalty: Sean Naughton – 55-15; Full-time – Ireland 55 Italy 15

IRELAND U-20: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster); Davy Colbert (Dublin University FC/Leinster), Finn Treacy (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Sam Berman (Terenure College RFC/Leinster), Hugo McLaughlin (Lansdowne FC/Leinster); Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Leinster), Oliver Coffey (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Jacob Boyd (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster), Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster), Patreece Bell (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby), Alan Spicer (UCD RFC/Leinster), Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) (capt), Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster), Bryn Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster), Luke Murphy (Shannon RFC/Munster).

Replacements used: Sean Naughton (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht) for J Murphy (42 mins), Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) for Berman, James McKillop (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) for Ward (both 53), Jake O’Riordan (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) for Coffey (55), Andrew Sparrow (UCD RFC/Leinster) for Bell (56), Emmet Calvey (Shannon RFC/Munster) for Colbert (58-68), Billy Corrigan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) for Spicer (58), Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) for O’Connell (63), Calvey for Boyd (68).

ITALY U-20: Mirko Belloni (Verona Rugby); Marco Scalabrin (Rugby Vicenza), Federico Zanandrea (Mogliano Veneto Rugby), Nicola Bozzo (USA Perpignan), Lorenzo Elettri (Rugby Rovigo Delta); Martino Pucciariello (CUS Milano), Mattia Jimenez (Rugby Petrarca); Sergio Pellicioli (Rugby Lyons), Nicholas Gasperini (Rugby Viadana 1970), Davide Ascari (Rugby Colorno 1975), Mattia Midena (Rugby Paese), Giacomo Milano (U.R. Capitolina), Cesare Zucconi (Cavalieri U.R. Prato Sesto), Luca Bellucci (Rugby Roma Olimpic), Jacopo Botturi (Petrarca Rugby) (capt).

Replacements used: Tommaso Redondi (Verona Rugby) for Midena (22-34 mins), Simone Brisighella (Rugby Viadana 1970) for Pucciariello (44), Redondi for Ascari (47), Federico Pisani (Verona Rugby) for Zucconi (49), Valerio Siciliano (CA Briviste Corrèze) for Gasperini, Lorenzo Casilio (Rugby Vicenza) for Jiminez (both 53), Patrick de Villiers (Rugby Noceto) for Bozzo (55), Nelson Casartelli (Benetton Rugby) for Bellucci (57), Francesco Gentile (Mogliano Veneto Rugby) for Pellicioli (68).

Referee: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)